


under your skin

by morino



Series: [ verse ] - riptide [1]
Category: springwave
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11667882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morino/pseuds/morino
Summary: "we could, if that's what you wanted her to look like; but i wanted her to be as pretty as the real thing."[ riptide; chanhyuk/seoyeon ]





	under your skin

"You're very talented," Seoyeon murmurs, clinging to the balled up jacket that she has cradled in her arms in lieu of a pillow as she watches Chanhyuk work from over his shoulder. Sleep has started to catch up with her since getting here, but now that she's found a reason to say awake, she's been batting it away. It's started to seep into her voice, though. She hopes Chanhyuk doesn't notice, that he's too absorbed in what he's doing to pay any mind to what her voice sounds like.

 

.

 

To say he was a night owl would have been an understatement. Chanhyuk was most comfortable when he was awake in the dark, when the only sound to accompany him was the noisy nature outside and the sound of his pen against his tablet, or the light tapping of fingers on his keyboard. Tonight, he had the pleasure of another being, though. It was rare for him, but something he did enjoy occasionally. "Hm?" He pauses his drawing to glance over at her. He'd half expected her to have fallen asleep by now. "Thank you. Does she look okay to you so far?" He asks, holding the tablet up to show her. He can tell she's tired, but until she falls asleep he'll continue to include her in his work. Especially since it was for her.

 

.

 

Pulling from whatever energy reserves she's using to continue to stay up, Seoyeon manages an enthusiastic nod - an honest answer to his question, but not one she thinks she could properly convey with the way her speech seemed to be going. "It's better than I thought it would be," she admits without truly meaning to. Almost immediately she catches how bad that probably sounds, but she doesn't have enough in her to completely change tracks now that she's on it. "I thought we'd just draw stick figures. With dresses."

 

.

 

He laughs, and it's quiet but true. He puts the tablet back in front of him and continues to add details, and then erase them. It's a tedious task, one he's grown used to over the years. "We could, if that's what you wanted her to look like." He muses, the last word prolonged as he zooms into the image. "Plenty of people make stick figure platform games. But I wanted her to be as pretty as the real thing." It's an offhand comment which he doesn't give much thought, zooming out of the image instead. "Do you want her hair like that or shall we give her a few styles?"

 

.

 

Almost reflexively, Seoyeon brings a hand up to rub at her eyes and partially obstruct the view of the blush blooming around her cheeks. When Chanhyuk speaks again, she lowers her hand and opens her mouth to speak; she gets an _'I'_ out before stopping herself - he asked for her input, it wouldn't be rude of her to give it to him. But the fact that he's doing anything at all this late makes her feel like she shouldn't be asking for anything more. "...Maybe just this, but curlier? Would the sun have curly hair?"

 

.

 

"Yeah." He smiles, looking at her for a second, as if he's taking references from her features. "Curly hair, and a bright smile. To lure her enemies into a false sense of security." There's a chuckle as he adds the last part, returning to change the strands of hair to match what she wants. "Yeah?" He holds the tablet back in front of her. "This is your character, what else are we going for?"

 

.

 

It takes a few beats for Seoyeon to respond, too concentrated on admiring the work in profess being shown to her to do much of anything else. When she does snap out of her trace, she does it while leaning back a little, hoping her moving around will mitigate her desire to yawn. Somehow. "I'm okay with whatever you wanted. You're already doing very well."

 

.

 

"Thank you." He smiles at her, and accepts the compliment. He knows he's good at what he does, but he's grateful that she approves. "Well I like her how she is. I'll maybe give her a bright outfit, with some sunshine markings." He sets the tablet down in front of him, only turning to face her again once he's found the colours for his drawing. "Are you tired yet?"

 

.

 

"That sounds nice..." Seoyeon finds herself trailing off near the end of her second seal of approval, finding it even harder to ward off another yawn that knocks at the back of her mouth. Shaking her head, she puts on the best smile she can muster in her current state and - it's for a good cause, so that makes it better, doesn't it? - lies through her teeth. "Not yet."

 

.

 

He raises a brow as he watches her, partly wanting to tell her to go to sleep and she can see the finished product in the morning. But it's not like he can tell her what to do. "Okay but don't worry about falling asleep if you are tired. That's why you come over." Truthfully it was to watch him, but if it meant she could finally get some sleep then he was fine with that. Instead of worrying over that, he set about colouring in the character on his tablet.

 

.

 

Seoyeon wonders what exactly it is that's suddenly made it so difficult for her to stay awake. She wouldn't say she's particularly comfortable - at least not as cozy as she was in her own bed, so that can't be it. Maybe the trip here zapped enough out of her. Shifting again, she moves closer to Chanhyuk largely because she needs some excuse to keep herself from knocking off. It proves to be a mistake when she knocks into _him,_ her shoulder connecting with his, and the contact seems to... wake her? Had she dozed off? "M'sorry," she mumbles, hand moving to rest on his shoulder to make sure she didn't hurt him somehow during that.

 

.

 

He's already completely lost in the colouring of the character when something nudges him. And it's only soft, not even strong enough to make him smudge. But he turns his head to look at her just as she puts her hand on his shoulder. He offers a smile, pats her hand with his own awkwardly with the pen still between his fingers. "I knew you were tired." Is all he says, smile turning brighter as he abandons his tablet. "Go to sleep." He says, nodding at the bed they're both sat on. "I'll take the sofa."

 

.

 

She still wants to deny it, but if she can't even force herself to keep her eyes open, was there truly a point to doing that anymore? So Seoyeon relents, but only a little. "I'm smaller, so the couch will be fine." She thinks her mother might have mentioned something about it being rude to fight genuine hospitality when she was younger, but he's already done so much - bringing her here, drawing for her, managing to make her fall asleep. This is the least she can offer.

 

.

 

"Could you even make it to the couch?" He asks, tone gentle and teasing. He's already packing his tablet away though, ready to move into the lounge area so she can sleep. "Just take the bed, its comfier. I won't be asleep for at least another two hours." He promises, sliding off the bed and turning to face her. "Also, you're clearly comfortable. If you move you might not be sleepy anymore."

 

.

 

"I can..." Well, she _could_ walk, but her legs seem to be siding more with Chanhyuk on this because as soon as she thinks about doing it, her body is begging her not to. They're unhappy enough already being tucked underneath her when really, they want to be stretched out, preferably on a mattress, while she slept. It's difficult fighting Chanhyuk on this, she doesn't need the extra opponent. "Maybe you should... try sleeping earlier, with me. I don't think I'd sleep well knowing someone was awake when I wasn't." Not the craftiest way to change tactics, but it's something. "And if you can't, then I'll... stay up with you. I can do it."

 

.

 

He chuckles, and it's soft and quiet and he's shaking his head. "I can never sleep this early. And the bed isn't big enough for both of us." It was a lie of course but his attempt to make things a little relaxed failed. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "But I can stay here until you drift off again. Don't force yourself to stay awake."

 

.

 

"It's fine." It's an absentminded admission that she was, in fact, trying to stay awake, but it slips through the ever growing cracks in her mind without a wink of notice from herself. Now she's more focused on the fact that he easily evades sleeps until this late, and on a frequent basis. It's as impressive as it is worrisome, but she supposes she should be thankful for that now. "You don't do anything else before you sleep? Besides the games and that," she finishes with a wave in the direction of where his tablet was before he stopped drawing.

 

.

 

"Nope." He shakes his head, thinking about the sort of things he usually filled his time with when he couldn't sleep. "Sometimes I write, or do code commissions. Or go to the beach." He shrugs his shoulders "nothing really worth doing when you're already so sleepy." It's a gentle jab, there's no bite to it. "I prefer it like this. It's nice and dark. And quiet."

 

.

 

She hangs onto that - the beach. It's a nice thought, the sort that's easy to romanticize - calm waters calling out to her, a sky dimly lit by a spattering of light here and there, no noise from the rest of the world to stir her from just taking it all in. But just as easy as it is for her to find a paradise in the idea, her mind flies off in the opposite direction. Darkness, silence, isolation. She hugs her jacket closer to herself. "I don't think I'd like any of that alone," maybe that's obvious. There's a reason she messaged him, after all.

 

.

 

It's understandable. Chanhyuk has always been classed as a little abnormal, especially when friends realise that he would rather spend a night alone in the dark, looking for hidden treasure on the beach, rather than surrounded by people in a busy place. "Ive always done it alone." He says quietly. And it's not meant as a pitiful remark, just a fact. "We could do it together one time if you're ever struggling to sleep. I use my metal detector."

 

.

 

"You--" _wait,_ she thinks, and it's the first one she's been able to fully control what it was that came out of her mouth since... well, the evening feels longer than it should, so she's not sure how much she can trust her inner clock. But she uses this power to direct herself away from useless questions like _'you have a metal detector?'_ and towards something far, far more important to her exhausted brain. "Those are real?"

 

.

 

He nods, a little caught off guard by her sudden question. "Of course." He chuckles and sets his tablet on his desk, turning towards his closet and opening it. He pulls out the detector, holding it out to show her. "See. Not just in movies or video games." He smiles and places the object onto the bed. "Have you never seen one?"

 

.

 

About a thousand - well, maybe just above a dozen questions - begin to circulate in her mind; she's not working with enough of her body online to have too many tasks running at once. Out of _are you sure you want to put that on your bed,_ and _where did you even get one in the first place,_ Seoyeon gives her head a shake to answer his question because, she definitely hasn't, and pulls out the question from her mind that feels most important. "Are you a treasure hunter?"

 

.

 

He laughs. "Not really." He shrugs his shoulders and removes the detector from the bed, carefully returning it to his closet. "I always used to do it with my brothers. We used to return lost things like jewellery, or keep the old coins we dug up. There not really any proper treasure out there." Chanhyuk shrugs. "But it passes the time and it's nice to give back."

 

.

 

"So like..." it takes her a couple of moments of fishing around before she gets the name she's trying to remember. "Like Robin Hood?" It sounds nice. There's a lot about Chanhyuk that's nice, Seoyeon's found, and it isn't much of a new revelation, but it's amazing how much more pronounced small, familiar things like this can seem when you're two closed eyes away from being a goner.

 

.

 

"In a sense," he chuckles. Not really, but he gives her that all things considered. "It mainly just passes the time, really." He shrugs his shoulders, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Most people think it's lame, but I think it's enjoyable. If you're into that stuff." He clears his throat, idly playing with his hands.

 

.

 

Her smile is soft, and she, for some reason, finds herself endeared by his last words in particular. "I'd like to, one day. With you." And it's easy to forget how much of an anchor she would probably be for him throughout that experience, like a child you wouldn't want to spend your free time babysitting, but still.

 

.

 

He smiles "really?" Because it's been so long since he's even been out to the beach to do it, and the thought of not only being able to go out and do it again, but actually having tolerable company. That would be nice. "Id like that. We should definitely do that."

 

.

 

"Okay," she breaks between her words to let out a yawn, and she knows she'll be embarrassed about not being quick enough to cover her mouth when she wakes up in the morning, but her hand has more pressing issues to attend to right now. Like being held out for him to meet, pinky out and ready to solidify her suggestion. "I promise."

 

.

 

He looks away as she yawns, busying his gaze with his tablet instead. Her words draw his attention back to her and he glanced down st her outstretched pinky. He smiles, and meets hers with his own. "Deal." He keeps hold of her pinky for s second. "Now will you go to sleep?"

 

.

 

Seoyeon doesn't protest this time, nodding as their pinkies unlock and she sets about repositioning herself. Her hands continue to hold onto her jacket as she lays down, forgoing the hassle of crawling under blankets just so she can rest her head as soon as possible. She doesn't feel cold, she doesn't feel much of anything outside of tired at the moment, so she figures she'll be fine. "Thank you," she murmurs, although her words are mostly spoken into the bed she's resting on rather than at Chanhyuk.

 

.

 

He smiles as she settles down, grateful that he's won this battle at least. "Night Seoyeon." He says softly, picking up his tablet and making his way into the lounge area. He promises himself he'll try to sleep soon, since she asked him to.

 


End file.
